Grand Prix Boston, or I'm back to writing, I swear

I'm traveling to Boston this weekend for the Grand Prix. Originally, the plan was to pick up a second bye off my Total rating in Boise, ID the week after a good (but not successful) weekend at Grand Prix: Seattle (starting 3-0 + byes via grinder, then 0-3, then a 7-2 at the PTQ the next day).

That was a wash.

Then I bombed my prerelease weekend to dip my Limited rating below 1800. So now I'm flying across the country with zero byes in hand. Time to get my grind on.

I don't think there's a whole lot of depth to this sealed format than others. There isn't a whole lot of card advantage to be gained by trickery in combat, and you really would rather save your removal for bombs rather than look for tempo. That being said, two drops are still important on the off chance your opponent doesn't establish a board early and you can blow them out with your Fireball or a Sleep. If I'm totally wrong with this, I'll figure it out in the grinders on Friday.

One thing that I think helped me play (for at least 20 out of 21 matches) my best Magic in Seattle was my focus. I read The Inner Game of Tennis, which is a seminal book in sports psychology literature dealing with performance anxiety. While about half of the content is dedicated to tennis, and a lot relates to anxiety affecting your physical state, a lot of the main ideas relate to your overall focus. The crux of the book is that there are two "selfs" to a player: one which tells the other how to do things, when the other half really doesn't need any assistance. The idea is to tune out the critical Self and let the Self do the work.

That's a pretty awful explanation, but I don't want to get too deep into it, and you really should just read the book. Anyway, I drew three points from the book that I apply to my Magic game that I remind myself of before major tournaments now.

- BPV. Be PV (or whoever you think is the best Magic player). The book talks about how people will watch a great Grand Slam final performance, and then get inspired to play well, and they do end up playing better! Assume the role of a great Magic player that you want to be.
- Observe, don't critique. Mistakes happen, but the match is not the time to dwell on them, because what matters is the current game state. Even after the match, recognizing the misplay is fine so that you don't do it again, but getting upset at yourself does you no good except ruin your mental state.
- Breathe. Focus on breathing. This is to keep your mind from wandering. The book talks about watching the approaching ball spin, which isn't relevant, but between points it recommends observing your breathing, mostly so you don't focus on bad things like an out. If you really have nothing to think about during the game, this is fine, so you don't think about your misplays, the luck of your opponent, some girl walking by, or how trashed you're going to get with your friends. And of course between games it also keeps you from dwelling on negative thoughts.

BPV. Observe, don't critique. Focus on breathing. This is what I think about in a tournament besides Magical cards.

I'll try to update some in Boston, and I think I'll Twitter. So if you happen to read this, wish me luck!